The A’s have agreed to a Minor League deal with first baseman and outfielder Eric Thames, according to a source. The club has not confirmed.
Thames, 35, is a San Jose, Calif., native and played in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball organization last year. He appeared in only 10 games for the Yomiuri Giants due to a torn right Achilles tendon he suffered while trying to field a ball in left field during his NPB debut.
Prior to that, Thames spent four seasons in MLB with the Brewers (2017-19) and the Nationals (’20). He made his MLB debut much earlier, however — the Blue Jays selected him in the seventh round of the ’08 Draft out of Pepperdine University, and he made his big league debut for Toronto in ’11.
Thames played in 181 games for the Blue Jays and Mariners from 2011-12 before spending two seasons with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization.
Upon his return to the big leagues with Milwaukee in 2017, Thames had a breakout campaign, posting an .877 OPS with 31 home runs in 138 games. He was productive at the plate for the next two seasons with the Brewers, turning in an .826 OPS with 41 homers over 737 plate appearances, missing some time due to injury.
Thames signed with Washington as a free agent prior to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and struggled to a .203/.300/.317 slash line in 41 games.